Gesundheit!
by cassie.hack
Summary: Title says it all. Liara experiences her first cold...


**Gesundheit!**

**.  
**

Liara's brows furrowed in confusion when she felt a sudden tingling sensation in her nose. Trying to focus on the datapad she was currently reading, she lightly wiggled her nose, which resulted in a sudden involuntary expulsion of air from her mouth, causing a curious sound...

"Gesundheit!" Shepard commented from the other side of the table without taking her eyes off her newspaper datapad.

"Goddess, what was that?"

Liara's bewildered tone made Shepard raise her eyes. A smile playing around her lips, she took a sip from her tea and stated calmly, "That was a sneeze."

"A... 'sneeze'...?" Liara's expression showed honest confusion, which finally caused Shepard to place both her datapad and the teacup on the table in front of her to focus her entire attention on the perplexed asari in front of her.

"Don't tell me asari don't ever get a cold..."

"A 'cold'...? Is that was this is?" The asari carefully touched her nose as if it had suddenly become a foreign part of her body over the past couple of minutes...

Still smiling at the endearing display, Shepard leaned forward. "Babe, have you ever been sick before?"

"No!" Liara burst out as if Shepard's words had insulted her. "Asari rarely suffer physical illness like other races."

The human nodded in sympathy. "Okay, get up," she announced and crossed the table to help the asari off her chair, leading her back to their bedroom. "You're going to lie down, I'll make some new tea..."

"But..." Liara tried to protest but was cut off by Shepard's raised hand.

"Trust me, if this is your first cold, you'll want to lie down now. You'll thank me later..."

* * *

After rummaging through the kitchen for about twenty minutes, Shepard had finally found all the necessary things for this "emergency" which she then placed on a tray, carrying it back into their bedroom.

As soon as she entered, she sensed the changed atmosphere and another sympathetic smile crossed her face as she sat down at the edge of the bed next to the curled up figure.

The movement next to her caused the figure to roll over, a muffled groan escaping her.

"By the Goddess, this is horrible! I can hardly breathe, my throat hurts, I feel dizzy and my head pounds with every move..." came a hoarse whine from underneath the blanket.

Still smiling, Shepard gently rubbed the blanket-covered back. "I know... But it'll get better, don't worry..."

"How?" came the weak response.

"Well, for starters, I found some human tea which should help with the inflammation. Then there are some pills which you should take as often as possible and, of course, tissues... Lots of tissues... But make sure you don't blow your nose too often or it'll redden even more and hurt as well..."

There was a hoarse whine from underneath the blanket as an answer.

"Now, now..." Shepard lightly patted the blanket, "I'm sure it'll be over in no time..."

A blue head appeared underneath the blanket and a pair of narrowed, suspicious eyes settled on Shepard. "How long is this going to last?"

The human shrugged. "I don't know... A couple of days maybe..."

"A COUPLE OF DAYS?" Liara winced as new pain shot through her throat at her outburst and her head disappeared back under the blanket with another whine. "Make it stop..."

"Want me to run you a bath?"

The entire blanket shook in what Shepard suspected was a 'no'.

"Can't move..."

"I could carry you..." the human offered, which was answered with a tired sigh.

"Just leave me here to die..."

Knowing she wasn't in any danger of being seen right now, another smile spread across Shepard's face as she remembered her own childhood and _her_ times being confined to the bed... She could relate to Liara's momentary feelings...

Carefully placing the tray on the nightstand, she scooted closer to the covered figure and wrapped her arms around her as much as the blanket allowed.

"Isn't a cold contagious?"

Shepard tightened her hug and shook her head. "You shouldn't use your omni tool for extranet searches at the moment, it might increase your headache... And besides, I've already evaded _my_ cold with all this medicine..."

The truth finally dawned on Liara and her head appeared again from under the blanket. "This is _your_ fault!" she accused. "_You _were the one sneezing and coughing the entire last week!"

Shepard chuckled, sighing at the memory. "Yeah... Boy, am _I_ glad it didn't break out..."

A low growl seemed to shake the entire bed.

"Get. Out. Of. This. Bed!"


End file.
